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Lao, Taotao

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Lao

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Taotao

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Lao, Taotao
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    Haploinsufficiency of Hedgehog interacting protein causes increased emphysema induced by cigarette smoke through network rewiring
    (BioMed Central, 2015) Lao, Taotao; Glass, Kimberly; Qiu, Weiliang; Polverino, Francesca; Gupta, Kushagra; Morrow, Jarrett; Mancini, John Dominic; Vuong, Linh; Perrella, Mark; Hersh, Craig; Owen, Caroline; Quackenbush, John; Yuan, Guo-Cheng; Silverman, Edwin; Zhou, Xiaobo
    Background: The HHIP gene, encoding Hedgehog interacting protein, has been implicated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and our subsequent studies identified a functional upstream genetic variant that decreased HHIP transcription. However, little is known about how HHIP contributes to COPD pathogenesis. Methods: We exposed Hhip haploinsufficient mice (Hhip+/-) to cigarette smoke (CS) for 6 months to model the biological consequences caused by CS in human COPD risk-allele carriers at the HHIP locus. Gene expression profiling in murine lungs was performed followed by an integrative network inference analysis, PANDA (Passing Attributes between Networks for Data Assimilation) analysis. Results: We detected more severe airspace enlargement in Hhip+/- mice vs. wild-type littermates (Hhip+/+) exposed to CS. Gene expression profiling in murine lungs suggested enhanced lymphocyte activation pathways in CS-exposed Hhip+/- vs. Hhip+/+ mice, which was supported by increased numbers of lymphoid aggregates and enhanced activation of CD8+ T cells after CS-exposure in the lungs of Hhip+/-mice compared to Hhip+/+ mice. Mechanistically, results from PANDA network analysis suggested a rewired and dampened Klf4 signaling network in Hhip+/- mice after CS exposure. Conclusions: In summary, HHIP haploinsufficiency exaggerated CS-induced airspace enlargement, which models CS-induced emphysema in human smokers carrying COPD risk alleles at the HHIP locus. Network modeling suggested rewired lymphocyte activation signaling circuits in the HHIP haploinsufficiency state. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13073-015-0137-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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    Gene expression analysis uncovers novel hedgehog interacting protein (HHIP) effects in human bronchial epithelial cells
    (Elsevier BV, 2013) Zhou, Xiaobo; Qiu, Weiliang; Sathirapongsasuti, J. Fah; Cho, Michael; Mancini, John D.; Lao, Taotao; Thibault, Derek M.; Litonjua, Augusto A.; Bakke, Per S.; Gulsvik, Amund; Lomas, David A.; Beaty, Terri H.; Hersh, Craig; Anderson, Christopher; Geigenmuller, Ute; Raby, Benjamin; Rennard, Stephen I.; Perrella, Mark; Choi, Augustine M.K.; Quackenbush, John; Silverman, Edwin
    Hedgehog Interacting Protein (HHIP) was implicated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, it remains unclear how HHIP contributes to COPD pathogenesis. To identify genes regulated by HHIP, we performed gene expression microarray analysis in a human bronchial epithelial cell line (Beas-2B) stably infected with HHIP shRNAs. HHIP silencing led to differential expression of 296 genes; enrichment for variants nominally associated with COPD was found. Eighteen of the differentially expressed genes were validated by real-time PCR in Beas-2B cells. Seven of 11 validated genes tested in human COPD and control lung tissues demonstrated significant gene expression differences. Functional annotation indicated enrichment for extracellular matrix and cell growth genes. Network modeling demonstrated that the extracellular matrix and cell proliferation genes influenced by HHIP tended to be interconnected. Thus, we identified potential HHIP targets in human bronchial epithelial cells that may contribute to COPD pathogenesis.
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    Progesterone and Estradiol Synergistically Promote the Lung Metastasis of Tuberin-Deficient Cells in a Preclinical Model of Lymphangioleiomyomatosis
    (Springer Nature, 2014) Sun, Yang; Zhang, Erik; Lao, Taotao; Pereira, Ana M; Li, Chenggang; Xiong, Li; Morrison, Tasha; Haley, Kathleen; Zhou, Xiaobo; Yu, Jane J.
    Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a female-predominant lung disease that can lead to respiratory failure. LAM cells typically have inactivating TSC2 mutations, leading to mTORC1 hyperactivation. The gender specificity of LAM suggests that female hormones contribute to disease progression. Clinical findings indicate that estradiol exacerbates LAM behaviors and symptoms. Although hormonal therapy with progesterone has been employed, the benefit in LAM improvement has not been achieved. We have previously found that estradiol promotes the survival and lung metastasis of cells lacking tuberin in a preclinical model of LAM. In this study, we hypothesize that progesterone alone or in combination with estradiol promote metastatic behaviors of TSC2-deficient cells. In cell culture models of TSC2-deficient LAM patient-derived and rat uterine leiomyoma-derived cells, we found that progesterone treatment or progesterone plus estradiol resulted in increased phosphorylation of Akt and ERK1/2, induced the proliferation, and enhanced the migration and invasiveness. In addition, treatment of progesterone plus estradiol synergistically decreased the levels of reactive oxygen species, and enhanced cell survival under oxidative stress. In a murine model of LAM, treatment of progesterone plus estradiol promoted the growth of xenograft tumors; however, progesterone treatment did not affect the development of xenograft tumors of Tsc2-deficient cells. Importantly, treatment of progesterone plus estradiol resulted in alteration of lung morphology, and significantly increased the number of lung micrometastases of Tsc2-deficient cells compared with estradiol treatment alone. Collectively, these data indicate that progesterone increases the metastatic potential of TSC2-deficient LAM patient-derived cells in vitro and lung metastasis in vivo. Thus, targeting progesterone-mediated signaling events may have therapeutic benefit for LAM and possibly other hormonally dependent cancers.